Nibbles – Page 465 – Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

September 23, 2007September 23, 2007

Poisonous agrobiodiversity

UK’s only public garden of “poisonous” plants opens at Alnwick Castle.

September 22, 2007September 22, 2007

Biofuels bad

Rapeseed biofuel “produces more greenhouse gas than oil or petrol”.

September 22, 2007September 22, 2007

National fruit of Cambodia

Chicken egg banana. Not diversity, a variety name.

September 21, 2007September 21, 2007

How domestication happens

Blog commentary on a paper about serendipitous backyard domestication.

September 21, 2007September 21, 2007

Atomic energy for agriculture

Make food not war: FAO head praises International Atomic Energy Agency.

1. Ancient farmers didn’t have to wait for the genetic diversity that made domestication possible. They selected from variation already present in wild plants, including the ancestors of rice and maize. Domestication was as much about spotting (or happening upon) useful differences as creating new ones.
2. English colonists in America called Indigenous dogs “wolves,” revealing as much about colonial perceptions as about the animals themselves. This history of Indigenous dogs shows how unfamiliar animals were classified through peculiarly European ideas about wildness.
3. Austria is bringing forgotten apple varieties back to life. Saving old varieties in genebanks is one thing: getting people to grow, sell and eat them is another, but it can be done. Or at least tried.
4. Jordan’s olive-oil heritage centres on traditional varieties such as Nabali and ancient Rumi trees, but most production is consumed locally, leaving exports limited and making provenance, cultivar and harvest date important indicators for buyers. Compare and contrast with Austrian apples.
5. Small island developing states have distinctive food cultures and ingredients, but face particular challenges in building sustainable and resilient food systems. FAO’s A Taste of SIDS explores the connections between island food, biodiversity and culinary heritage. Nice to see diversity within crops considered, though a few local variety names would have been nice.
Published on October 21, 2026